Yesterday during Theme Studies we examined how well objects remain standing. We began by trying to balance our pencils on our tables. Some people were successful and some weren't. After discussing why this might be, we then began examining just how stable even the standing ones were. Even though some pencils could stand up, none of them were very stable. We then looked at two different sized paper tubes, a shorter one and a longer one. Students were asked to decide which tube they thought was more stable. Almost everyone chose the shorter tube. Even though they both would tip over easily, the shorter tube took more strength to do so.
Today we reexamined our tall paper tubes. Our goal was to do something to them so that they would be more stable. Students were given supplies to use and were provided with the rule that they could add to the tube, but they could not take away from it. They were then left to explore how they could make the tube more stable.
Each pair was successful. however some were more successful than others.
We came up with a list of the strategies that we used, and discovered that most of them were similar. Most pairs either made some sort of foundation for their tube, or increased the weight or size of the bottom of the tube. Both two good ways to increase stability.
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